American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert sent temperatures soaring when he intimated that he was joining iconic rock band Qeeen as frontman, only the second since the death of Freddie Mercury. But guess again.
“The intention is to pay tribute to Freddie and the band by singing some f*****g great songs,” Lambert told the UK’s Daily Star. It’s to keep the music alive for the fans and give it an energy that Freddie would have been proud of.”
Mercury died in 1991 from complications related to AIDS, and band mates guitarist Brian May, 64 and drummer Roger Taylor, 62, have toured with Paul Rodgers. He fronted for the band for five years until 2009.
Lambert sang with the band during his stint on American Idol. He also sang with them at MTV’s EMAs in Belfast last November, and drew praise from Taylor afterward.
“He has grown into a really great performer with an astonishing voice with a range that’s great,” the drummer told Billboard. “There’s nothing signed just yet but we’re talking about live dates. It could be very exciting.”
“There’s no intention in my mind of replacing Freddie. That’s impossible,” Lambert said. “The way I’m choosing to view it is that it’s a great honor and one I’m in no way going to shirk.”
But Lambert was either misinterpreted or over-hyped his deal with Queen. He later issued a retraction on Twitter and blamed it on the Star for reporting his comments out of context. Lambert said he was only talking about his performance at the EMAs, not a tour.
Or could it be that he was just trying to get some publicity for his new album,Trespassing, which debuts March 19? “Trespassing is much more of an album, not just a collection of would-be singles like my first record,” he said.